fiscal cliff is not cutting spending. it's about preventing a tax increase that preventing spending cuts. now the republican arguement is more complicated. to use the deadline, legitimate argument. i agree with it in principle. use the deadline to get the longer range spending cuts. the president can say fine, i want to negotiate those next year. can't do it in three weeks. incidentally, speaker boehner what medicare cuts are you for, he will say? if the republican position, the republicans campaigned against $716 million in medicare cuts from the current program. republicans for medicare reform. not for squeezing the current program. they will say i want to give the middle class, make sure the middle class tax rate stay where they are. i don't want the republicans to squeeze medicare more than we did, have done in the past. i'm worried. that the president has an awful lot of leverage. >> bret: but you have the democrats, juan, like mike pryor of arkansas who told politico this -- "as you know people around here like the